Editors finally acknowledge issues, not politics, matter most

Cartoons from John Cole on Meryl Streep's criticism of President-elect Donald J. Trump , above, and Rick McKee on President Obama's legacy, below.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Though many months too late, The Record deserves credit for launching a series on "15 issues important to North Jersey residents" that could be affected by the administration of President-elect Donald J. Trump.

No matter that "Trump Tracker" echoes "Christie Tracker." 

That was the Matt Katz series on our very own GOP bully, Governor Christie, that ran for a couple of years on WNYC-FM, the New York and New Jersey public radio station.

And readers also know that if the Woodland Park daily and all of the other news outlets across the country had been focusing on issues during the campaign, the outcome of the 2016 presidential election would have been far different.

Instead, the news media delighted in repeating every sensational, unsubstantiated charge against Democrat Hillary Clinton, and ignoring her decades-long service to families ad children.

Five-part series

Today's "Trump Tracker" installment focuses on immigration, train transportation and health care (1A, 8A and 9A).

Editor Rick Green doesn't explain why the transportation segment leaves hundreds of thousands of New Jersey bus commuters out in the cold (8A).

The other issues -- including homeland security, education, taxes, the environment, social-safety net and infrastructure -- are scheduled to run through Thursday, the day before the inauguration (8A).

Politics as usual

Sadly, it's politics as usual at the bottom of Page 1 today, with yet another Political Stile column on Christie:

"Christie leans left in N.J., 
but keeps door open on right"

Readers also are keeping their bathroom doors open, in case they get the sudden urge to throw up.

Local news?

On the Local front, Road Warrior Columnist John Cichowski appears to be telling drivers they have two and a half months to "read, eat, drink, groom themselves and use hand-held devices to ... talk, text or find their way" before an April police crackdown (1L).

In Opinion, an editorial notes Paterson remains "among New Jersey's most violent places" despite an overall drop in crime (2O).

"Homicides held steady at 19, the same as in 2015, while the number of rapes increased" to 57 from 42, according to the editorial.  

The editorial is incorrect in saying rapes "increased from 42 to 57 percent." 

A year ago, another editorial on the overall drop in crime credited Police Director Jerry Speziale while letting him off the hook on curbing gun violence and the drug trade. 

Today's editorial doesn't even mention  Speziale or the undercover state police troopers who have been helping Paterson police.

Korean food crawl

The Better Living cover on a Korean food crawl in Palisades Park should have been labeled, "For carnivores only" (1BL and 3BL).

By using Robert Austin Cho, owner of a Korean barbecue restaurant, as her guide, Staff Writer Sophia Gottfried largely omitted all the great non-meat dishes -- heart-healthy seafood, tofu and vegetables -- served in Korean restaurant in Palisades Park and neighboring Fort Lee, which isn't even mentioned.

And with Cho in tow, Gottfried also managed to keep the secret of the vast majority of Korean restaurants -- they serve low-quality beef and pork raised on harmful antibiotics and growth hormones to boost their bottom lines.

Fewer stories?

Since the November redesign of The Record, many readers have complained there are fewer stories in the paper.

There was a good reason for that on Saturday, when an upbeat Page 1 story explained how teenagers are coping with life in crime-ridden Silk City:

"Paterson students
outsmart crime
through use of 
technology"

The story reported these geniuses developed "a cellphone application that would send an alert to school security staff if students diverted from their normal route home from school."

If readers turned to the continuation page (Saturday's 4A) and read the story to the end, they found the entire story was repeated -- all 23 paragraphs.

How's that?

On Saturday's Local front, this headline puzzled many readers:

"Hospital
manager
gets 6 
months"

But the story had nothing to do with the sentencing of a human to jail or prison.

"Manager" referred to a company that manages Bergen Regional Medical Center in Paramus, and the "6 months" is how long its contract has been extended.

This is high-school level journalism, plain and simple.

For that, you can thank the payroll-slashing Gannett Co. -- owner of seven New Jersey dailies -- and the morons employed in a centralized Neptune design center.

Years too late, The Record keeps up the assault on Christie

After the 2013 George Washington Bridge lane closures, Governor Christie became the butt of jokes for cartoonists across the country, including Clay Bennett of the Chattanooga Times Free Press in Tennessee.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

An editorial in The Record today urges the state Senate on Monday to override a Governor Christie veto of "a bill that would ensure women receive the same pay as men for the same work."

Apparently, the veto occurred seven months ago, but this is the first time The Record has reported on an override attempt or what the editorial board is calling "legislative action on a bill of great importance to women across the state" (2O).

Can you imagine how many other issues of importance to taxpayers, low-wage workers, environmentalists and others the Woodland Park daily has consistently ignored?

Christie has vetoed more than 500 bills since he took office -- surely a record for any New Jersey governor -- but The Record's Trenton reporters long ago gave up counting them.

Focus on politics

The Record's editors and columnists rarely come to bat for those hurt by Christie's vetoes, because their work has been tightly focused on politics, not issues.

In the past week, only the GOP bully's last-minute proposed book deal; pay raises for legislative aides, judges and other state employees; and pulling public notices from newspapers have whipped them into a frenzy of coverage.

The headline over today's editorial:

"Fighting for a free press"

"Fighting for a profitable press" might be closer to the truth.

Today's editorial says that removing public notices from newspapers "would have a radical impact on our bottom line and the bottom lines of other newspapers across New Jersey.

"Some publications may fold and hundreds of Jersey-based jobs will be lost."

Sadly, Gannett Co. and the Borg family, the previous owner of The Record, have used publication of budgets and other public notices as an excuse to reduce the coverage of local news, even though the type they are printed in is so small hardly anyone reads them.

Christie coverage

For all of Christie's first term and the first half of his second term, The Record treated him uncritically, and portrayed the Republican governor as a compromiser who could reach across the aisle and make deals with Democrats who hold the majority in the state Legislature.

Of course, every veto and every unilateral action, such as killing the Hudson River rail tunnels and grabbing leftover funds to fix roads and bridges, gave a lie to that portrayal, but they were ignored.

Even after the paper broke the story of the politically motivated Bridgegate scandal, the editors kept on insisting there was no proof the governor knew about the plot.

All that came undone in September and October, when witness after witness testified in federal court Christie knew about the conspiracy as it was being executed, causing five mornings of gridlock in Fort Lee.

That unleashed many critical columns and editorials, and no love was lost when President-elect Donald J. Trump passed Christie over for an important post in his administration.

Trump coverage

During the presidential campaign, The Record and other news media reported every one of Trump's racially motivated attacks on President Obama without any reference to his accomplishments on the economy, health care, the environment and so much more.

That's because, as with Christie, the relentless focus was on partisanship, not policy; and insults and lies, not issues. 

In a column for the Daily News on Saturday, Linda Stasi wrote about the coming "neo-nasty era" of a Trump presidency:

"The Obamas represented not just the best of black people, but the BEST of all people -- white, black, brown and everything in between.

"The Obamas are a credit to the race all right -- the human race.

"Yet, President Obama, the most honest, decent President of my lifetime, who leaves with a 56% approval rating, is, if you listen to the right wing's very mainstream media, a man loathed and hated."

After reviewing the president's many accomplishments, Stasi concludes, "Maybe, just maybe, the most decent president of modern times ... is hated simply because he's black, a black President in a white country. Likely.

"Hidden racism in America is as rampant as blatant racism."

The Record's readers blast Gannett redesign, staff changes as a 'disgrace,' 'horrendous' and 'a sad day' for local paper

Readers have posted many negative reviews of Gannett Co.'s redesign of The Record of Woodland Park, as well as staff changes, on the Facebook page of NorthJersey.com, the website of North Jersey Media Group.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The unannounced redesign of The Record of Woodland Park in November has upset many readers, leading some to sound off on Facebook and cancel subscriptions.

Gannett Co. hasn't published any negative letters to the editor of The Record, but invites readers to "review" the print edition on NorthJersey.com's Facebook page.

Of course, many loyal readers are older and don't use computers or smartphones, so that likely has limited the number of negative reviews.

On Nov. 19, reader Hank Hahn said:

"You new format of providing less news in all areas is a disgrace. After over 40 years of home delivery, I will not renew my subscription unless it improves in a very short time."

Don't hold your breath, Hank.

On Nov. 20, Ann Marie Cooke declared: 

"Have been a loyal and devoted reader of your newspaper for over 30 years. The new format of your print paper is horrendous. Sad to say, we've bought our last copy of The Record today."

Reader Joseph Dugan said:

"The Bergen Record needs to stop looking like The Rockland Journal News NOW!!!!!"

Another reader, Barbara McDermott, agreed. 

One woman complained Charlie McGill's portraits no longer graces the Sports section:

"I can't believe Charlie McGill is gone. What are you thinking? My "Record" went south a long time ago but this is just the last straw. Such a sad day. Why did you ruin such a great hometown publication. Sigh."

Check out this YouTube video of McGill talking about his "Athletes of the Week"  feature.

Today's paper 

Along with allowing Governor Christie to profit from writing a book while in office, a separate bill would end a legal requirement that municipalities and counties publish official notices in newspapers (1A).

"That would hurt their revenue streams," Staff Writer Salvador Rizzo says, avoiding the word "profits." 

Rizzo goes on, "One legislative source says the bill was meant as punishment for New Jersey's newspapers."

This is the second time The Record has reported the measure is designed to punish newspapers, but the Woodland Park daily doesn't say why.

Does it have anything to do with Christie ending his presidential campaign in February and immediately throwing his support behind Donald J. Trump?

That prompted The Star-Ledger and six other New Jersey dailies to call for the governor's resignation.

The Record was the only exception, and has never even reported what their editorials demanded.

Trump transition

As the Trump transition becomes more bizarre day after day, The Record generally has avoided reporting about it on Page 1.

Today's story on cyber attacks during the presidential campaign is an exception -- "GOP leaders join outrage at Russia" -- but recall the front-page takeout on Manhattan carriage horses on Sunday. 

Most of Monday's front page was devoted to one of the most boring topics under the sun: state politics.

Editors downplay Russian influence on election of Trump

The Port Authority Bus Terminal on Eighth Avenue in midtown Manhattan is the end of the ride for tens of thousands of commuters who board NJ Transit's No. 165 and other buses in northern New Jersey, below. 

Those commuters were ill-served on Friday by another in a series of Page 1 stories in The Record on the political battle over building a new bus terminal in Manhattan. Staff Writer Paul Berger should stop wasting their time and find out why the bi-state agency isn't adding more exclusive bus lanes at the Lincoln Tunnel to expand service in the decade or so before another terminal could be completed.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Gannett editors in a Neptune design center, where The Record and six other company owned dailies are put out every day, have a pretty weird idea of news.

Today, for example, a feature story on Manhattan carriage horses and a shrill column on carbon-monoxide poisoning dominate the Woodland Park daily's front page (1A).

At the bottom of the page, readers learn President Obama has asked intelligence agencies to review all cyber attacks in the last three presidential campaigns and elections, including the Nov. 8 Electoral College victory of President-elect Donald J. Trump.

U.S. intelligence officials are quoted saying they believe "Russia actively  attempted to interfere with this year's U.S. presidential election, including a hack of the Democratic National Committee's email system" (9A).

If Columnist John Cichowski is so concerned about carbon-monoxide poisoning, he could rail against the 53,000 deaths every year from auto emissions, but that might upset the auto dealers and automakers whose advertising keeps the paper afloat.

As it is, a photo with his Road Warrior column today suggests the carbon-monoxide deaths of a woman and two children last January in Passaic could have been prevented, if municipal crews did a better job of clearing the snow around their car.

Syrian refugees

On Friday's front page, the Newark Archdicocese welcoming 51 Syrian refugees against the wishes of Trump and Governor Christie was the only story of real interest in North Jersey. 

Inside the paper, another "food crawl" article in Better Living focused on Turkish restaurants, kebab houses and bakeries -- all relative newcomers to Paterson's South Paterson neighborhood (Better Living). 

Syrian families, including the Fattals and the Nouris, opened bakeries in the late 1960s that still flourish today, along with Syrian restaurants and markets.

Editors finally wake up to darkest days in American history

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is "Dracula in Aleppo" in this cartoon about the Syrian civil war from Arend van Dam. President-elect Donald J. Trump's praise for Putin has been widely reported by the news media, but rarely condemned.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

We have women to thank for returning the focus to just how dangerous President-elect Donald J. Trump is to our democracy.

"Across North Jersey," The Record reports on Page 1 today, "woman are booking buses, reserving hotel rooms, planning car pools and rallying their mothers and daughters to descend on Washington" the day after the wacko racist is inaugurated on Jan. 20.

"There needs to be a really clear message sent to our president-elect and to Congress," says Jen Kistner, a photographer from Edgewater.

"This is not about a Republican being elected -- I've seen plenty of Republicans elected -- this is about a really dangerous person with dangerous ideas who is not qualified for the job" (1A and 8A).

Like the women who will March on Washington on Jan. 21, I'm not buying all the B.S. about Trump uniting the nation, especially in view of his White House and Cabinet picks.

And like those women, I see Trump's election as a vote against women, women's rights and Hillary Clinton, who got up to 2.5 million more votes than Trump and would have been the first woman elected president. 

'Madman of the Year'

Leave it to the sorry print journalists at Time magazine to name the president-elect as Person of the Year (1A and 6A).

"But they did so with a headline that read, 'President of the Divided States of America,'" says Op-Ed Columnist Charles M. Blow of The New York Times.

He continues, "In an interview with the 'Today' show, Trump huffed: 'When you say divided states of America, I didn't divide them.'

"Donald, they name is division. You and your campaign of toxicity and intolerance have not only divided this country but also ripped it to tatters....

"This is our challenge: To see clearly what this deceiver wants to obscure; to be resolute about that to which he wants us to be resigned; to understand that Time's man of the year is, by words and deeds, more of a madman of the year."

Forced busing

Today's front page shows how NJ Transit bus riders still are second-class citizens at Port Authority bus stations in Manhattan (1A).

Reopening of the George Washington Bridge Bus Station is being postponed again, and isn't expected to be completed until April, Staff Writer Paul Berger reports.

Bus commuters also are second-class citizens in The Record's newsroom, where Road Warrior columnist John Cichowski and other reporters ignored them until a couple of years ago, when the editor started receiving angry letters about massive delays at the midtown Manhattan bus station.

We're damned if Christie does and damned if he doesn't

Governor Christie appears to be stuffing down food to cope with the stress of a failed presidential campaign and not being tapped for the Cabinet or other post in the administration of President-elect Donald J. Trump. On Tuesday, Christie's office provided this photo of him announcing a $300 million renovation of the State House.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

How many times do readers of The Record have to slog through another news story and boring political column on Governor Christie's future?

More than two pages of today's edition are devoted to Christie, President-elect Donald J. Trump's Cabinet picks and whether Jersey's own GOP thug will get a job in the wacko's administration (1A, 8A and 9A).

The huge double-decker headline on Page 1 isn't news:

"Christie says:
'I'm not leaving'"

What would be news is for Trenton reporter Dustin Racioppi to tell readers just how many vetoes Christie has executed, and potentially how many more are in store, if he stays in office until January 2018.

Christie, who is believed to have used the veto more than 500 times since January 2010, has made known his opposition on many issues, including hiking the minimum wage, imposing a tax surcharge on millionaires and even early voting.

So, we're damned if he serves his full second term, and gets a chance to kill bills to do all of that and more.

And if he becomes Trump's attorney general, we could be damned when he support states that try to suppress the minority vote or recommend against filing federal civil rights suits against white police officers who shoot unarmed blacks?

Flights to Cuba

The upbeat story on the first commercial flight from Newark to Cuba notes many of the passengers on Tuesday were New Jersey residents who planned to visit relatives on the island (1A).

Staff Writer Monsy Alvarado doesn't mention it, but tens of billions of dollars in remittances sent to Cuba from New Jersey, Florida and other states have kept the island afloat since the U.S. trade embargo was imposed in 1962.

'Kelly missed mark'

In a letter to the editor today, David Singer of Demarest criticizes veteran Columnist Mike Kelly for claiming "Hamilton" cast members' message to Vice President-elect Mike Spence "flopped" (10A).

Singer wrote:

"The message was respectful: The audience was asked not to boo the vice-president elect. Michael Spence was welcomed, thanked for attending, and then asked to please hear the grave concerns created by the hostile language used in the Trump/Pence campaign."

How did Kelly miss all of that or the cast's fundamental right to free speech, even in the august presence of the vice-president elect?

"It's Kelly who missed the mark with his critique," Singer says.

Amen.

Local news?

Gannett's dumbing down of local news continues today with the majority of stories in The Record's Local section written by less-experienced weekly reporters (1L to 6L).

Most of the Local front is devoted to traffic limitations on a bridge linking Fair Lawn to Paterson (1L).

Despite the huge headline, this is hardly breaking news:

"Bridge's condition
prompts traffic cap"

The story carries the byline of John E. Seasly, The Record staff writer who did only a so-so job when he covered Hackensack.

For example, Seasly refused to cover the campaign by nine candidates for three seats on the Board of Education last April or report on a $100-million-plus school budget that voters were asked to approve or reject.

He also missed a major event in the city's downtown redevelopment:

Construction of a 14-story, 382-unit apartment building at Main and Mercer streets was halted in late July when pile driving damaged a day care building next to the site.

Amen to today's editorial: 'Trump cannot trump' free speech

This cartoon from Rayma Suprani is a reminder U.S. news media have reported President-elect Donald J. Trump's frequent praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin, but never reminded Americans that Putin's bombers are killing innocent civilians in Aleppo, Syria, and prolonging the civil war.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The negative reaction to an actor in "Hamilton" reading a prepared statement from the cast to Vice President-elect Mike Pence makes you wonder if we're still living in a country founded on free speech.

For example, among the letters to the editor of The Record today, Paul Ferrantino of Wanaque claims that "as a retired professional actor, I am embarrassed by the behavior" of the "Hamilton" cast (8A).

Though he doesn't name him, Ferrantino goes on to criticize actor Brandon Victor Dixon:

"Taking advantage of a captive audience, which included the vice president-elect of our United States, in this way was nothing more than a dirty trick, or at the least, an unfair way to espouse one's political views."

"Dirty trick" or "unfair"? No way.

Civics lesson

The Record's unsigned editorial on the brouhaha ends with the forty-five words in the First Amendment to the Constitution:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

The First Amendment is a reminder that President-elect Donald J. Trump was wrong to tweet his demand for the actor to apologize.

Today's editorial puts it this way: 

"... No free pass is given on matters related to the First Amendment. The pun is intended. Trump cannot trump that. There is no [political] honeymoon for stomping on free speech" (8A).

Cast statement

The prepared statement from the hit show's cast "raised the concerns of people of color, of immigrants and of the LGBT community that the new administration may not do them right," as the editorial puts it.

"We truly hope," the actor told Pence, "that this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and to work on behalf of all of us."

Good luck with that, given all the hate speech Trump indulged in during the campaign.

But who can blame the cast for seizing the opportunity to speak directly to the vice president-elect in the hope the message will be delivered to the Dictator-In-Chief?

What a paper!

The main element on Page 1 today demonstrates how U.S. Customs officials have bamboozled another reporter into writing a story on "banned foods" international visitors supposedly hide in their suitcases (1A).

"Hundreds of pounds" of contraband are destroyed each week at Newark Liberty International Airport, the story reports.

Is that really worthy of a front page that has only three stories on it?

Staff Writer Monsy Alvarado is no kid just out  of journalism school, but you won't find a word about any actual harm foreign pests or animal diseases have wrought in the United States.

Customs officers should concentrate on stopping illegal drugs and guns from entering the country, and not obsess over worms in Portuguese chestnuts.

Another big weakness in the story is Alvarado never explaining why visitors bother to stuff their luggage with foods that are widely available in supermarkets and specialty stores in ethnically diverse New Jersey.

Local news?

In Local today, Bergen County readers find stories from only seven of the 90 communities in The Record's circulation area, including three from Paterson and two from other Passaic County towns.

And many readers note with horror that error-prone Staff Writer John Cichowski -- aka Road Warrior or is it Road Worrier -- apparently decided not to follow the example of many other staffers his age who retired during last week's drastic Gannett downsizing (1L).

Monday's paper

If they read The Record, commuters who ride NJ Transit buses into the city don't know whether a new midtown bus terminal is on or off.

The latest episode in blow-by-blow coverage ran on The Record's front page on Monday, when Staff Writer Paul Berger reported on a "feud" between the Port Authority board chairman -- an appointee of Governor Christie -- and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (1A).

With actual construction of a new terminal many years away, wouldn't it be nice if Berger tried to explain why there are no rush-hour seats on NJ Transit buses and why officials don't add more exclusive bus lanes into and out of the Lincoln Tunnel.

I'm horrified at how much more damage Governor Christie can do now that he says he'll be serving until January 2018

A political cartoon from The Charlotte Observer illustrates how the Bridgegate scandal derailed Governor Christie's White House campaign.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Just when you thought Governor Christie would end up cleaning the gold toilets and laundering the towels used as toilet paper in a Trump White House, the GOP thug says he's staying in New Jersey.

"I have no reason to believe as we stand here today that I will do anything other than serve out my full term as governor," Christie told the state League of Municipalities conference on Thursday.

Today's overlong story on Page 1 of The Record gets bogged down in yet another rehash of Christie's relationship with President-elect Donald J. Trump, and speculation about whether he will be tapped for a post in the incoming administration (1A and 8A).

Staff Writer Dustin Racioppi, who is assigned to cover Christie, also mentions this week's 10th downgrade of the state's credit rating.

But he doesn't remind readers of Christie's war against the middle class since early 2010 -- from mass transit to the state pension system -- and the potential for more damage, if he stays around until January 2018.

Governor Veto

With a record of more than 500 vetoes under his belt, nothing can stop Christie from hitting 750 vetoes or more.

He's already put the kibosh on a hike in the minimum wage, a tax surcharge on millionaires that would raise more than $1 billion, and hundreds of other bills passed by the state Legislature.

In the last couple of years, the Democrats have had limited success in putting a few questions on the ballot to get some of the vetoed measures enacted by modifying the state constitution. 

Local news?

On Page 6L of Local today, Hackensack residents will find a rare story about the city's Board of Education, which is searching for a new superintendent.

I can't recall the last time The Record of Woodland Park covered a meeting of the board.

The paper did no reporting on why the old superintendent, Karen Lewis, left so suddenly.

In fact, the reporter assigned to Hackensack didn't even cover the campaign of nine candidates for three board seats last April.

The Zisa family political dynasty, which ruled the city for decades, succeeded in getting all three of their candidates on the board.

Former four-term Mayor Jack Zisa and his brother, disgraced former Police Chief Ken Zisa, have indicated that was the first step in an attempted political comeback under the banner of Team Hackensack that will try to retake control of the City Council in May's municipal election. 

Revised website is a royal F.U. to readers of print edition; Trump's call for unity clashes with naming of supremacist

The cover of the New York Post on Monday carries a reassuring message from President-elect Donald J. Trump, who appeared on "60 Minutes," but also reports he has appointed a promoter of white nationalism as chief strategist.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The payroll-slashing Gannett Co. today delivered a revised NorthJersey.com website aimed at younger readers, but didn't touch the crappy print edition.

"The changes are robust and designed to serve readers, advertisers and regional communities," says a message from Rick Green, editor of The Record (L-1).

Green is promoting "a cleaner design that enhances the user experience" -- changes that sail over the head of The Record's older readers, many of whom don't use smartphones, tablets or computers.

Today's paper

Today's front page delivers a mix of human interest, New Jersey and North Jersey news, looking much like Page 1 did before the Bridgegate trial and the shocking upset in the presidential election a week ago.

As further testament to the awful job Governor Christie is doing, a top Wall Street credit-rating agency downgraded New Jersey once again -- that's a record 10 downgrades in response to the GOP thug's fiscal mismanagement and the state's pension woes (A-1).

President Obama held a news conference and commented on the presidential election:

The results are "a reminder that elections matter and voting counts," the president said, adding:

"I don't know how many times we have to relearn this lesson, because we ended up having 43% of the country not voting who were eligible to vote."

His remarks on voter apathy don't appear in The Associated Press story on A-1 today..

President-elect Donald J. Trump's week-long effort to unify the country was shown to be just more B.S. with the appointment of Steven K. Bannon as "chief strategist" (A-12).

Bannon is identified as "an enthusiastic promoter of white nationalism."

Local news?

Although Gannett is promising more local and breaking news on the website, the print edition continues to limp along with a single section devoted to news from Bergen and Passaic counties and beyond.

The paper delivered to my home in Hackensack today has only four pages devoted to local news, and stories or briefs from Paterson appear on all but one of them (L-1, L-3 and L-6).

On the Local front, a photo of a smoky fire that injured no one appears next to the editor's column about "enhancements to our website" (L-1).

This type of filler photo has been favored by layout editors who face huge holes in their local-news pages as deadline approaches.

As protesters take to the streets, Trump's conciliatory acceptance speech hides plans for a right-wing agenda

Political cartoonist Dave Granlund on Democrat Hillary Clinton's loss in the presidential election, above. 

Cartoonist Bob Englehart sees Donald J. Trump's victory as a pact with the devil.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The deep racial and political divisions that tore the country apart during the Obama administration won't be going away any time soon.

President-elect Donald J. Trump exploited all of those angry white people to win his White House campaign, and his claim on Wednesday that "we will all come together as never before" rings hollow.

Ending her historic campaign, Democrat Hillary Clinton, who won the popular vote, noted:

"We have seen that our nation is more deeply divided than we thought. But I still believe in America and always will."

Today's banner headline on Page 1 of The Record is merely a pipe dream:

"A bold new chapter"

Protesters in New York City chanted "Not our president," and gathered near the Republican president-elect's home in Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, The New York Times reported.

Similar rallies took place in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Oakland; Portland, Ore.; Seattle and Washington, as well on some college campuses.

The Record's story on the protests carries an Oakland, Calif., dateline, and runs on A-6 today.

I can't recall another president-elect who touched off demonstrations over his racially divisive campaign and unsuitability to serve as commander-in-chief -- or in Trump's case, Dictator-In-Chief.

More bad news

Before the election on Tuesday, political satirist Bill Maher warned Trump had put into motion "a slow-moving right-wing coup."

According to The Huffington Post, Maher shouted: "Media, do your fucking job! Report on it!"

Well, I guess that's the purpose of The Record's A-3 story on what a Trump victory means for Governor Christie, who has laid ruin to New Jersey since he took office in early 2010.

Besides Jersey's GOP thug, who heads the president-elect's transition team, Trump reportedly will be offering positions to Rudy Giuliani, Newt Gingrich and other right-wing crackpots.

And today's editorial in The Record calls the white racist backlash against President Obama "a pent-up longing for change" (A-18) without mentioning "change" was the 2008 campaign theme of our first black president.

Letters to editors

Most of the letters to the editor today react negatively to Trump's victory (A-3).

"The leading enabler of this disastrous election outcome was the media, especially cable television news," Elisha Gurfein of Englewood says.

"In the name of audience and profits, free airtime was afforded to an unqualified, unstable, and know-noting candidate.

"Shameful."

But the print media are equally to blame, especially small dailies like The Record, which printed hysterical Associated Press stories day after day legitimizing all of Trump's lies and his distortions of Obama's record.